Evans' NASCAR Hall of Fame selection richly deserved

Tuesday

No, I am not talking about Richard Petty. He is already in the Hall. I am talking about “The King” of NASCAR Modifieds, Richie Evans.

?For the many who felt the NASCAR Hall of Fame was reserved for only those who had had success in the Cup Series, Evans making the Hall brought an end to such thinking.

Some question his selection. I don’t. I have voted for him all three years that there has been a vote to select five new members to the Hall.

How could anyone not think that the Rome, N.Y., legend did not belong? He won an estimated 475 times out of an estimated 1,300 starts. In baseball his 33 percent winning average would have earned him superstar status.

In 1998, he was selected as one of the top 50 NASCAR racers of all time.

Those familiar with Evans and his talents feel that if he had not been killed at Martinsville Speedway in 1985, he would have added even more impressive numbers to his already impressive career resume.

As one of the 54 members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, I am proud to say that I voted for him and played a small part in getting Richie into the Hall.

Years back, I had the great joy of announcing Richie Evans in racing action at the then-paved New Egypt, N.J., Speedway, which was perhaps Fort Dix Speedway at that time. Jerry Cook, a nominee for the Hall, also ran there along with other legends such as Parker Bohn, Freddie Harbach and others. There was some great competition.

When the racing was over, many headed to a “watering hole” down the road from the track, owned by someone involved in racing, to rehash the night of racing and embellish on other racing nights. There are great memories stored in the back of my brain to share with those who express interest.

I voted for Darrell Waltrip because, based on his successes on the track, he deserved to be in the Hall. I could not think of any reason not to include him on my ballot.

I did hope that should his name be announced that he would not do that “Ickey Shuffle” dance he did in victory lane after winning the Daytona 500. I hoped that he would not stand on a chair and yell “boogity, boogity, boogity.”

However, he did run up on the stage and plant a kiss right on the cheek of NASCAR CEO Brian France, the man who announced that Waltrip was now in the Hall. Though I don’t always like his antics, I think he will be a plus for the Hall.

As many know, the NASCAR Hall of Fame has not had the attendance that was forecast. Someone said that Waltrip will be out promoting the Hall just as well as he has been promoting himself over the years. That is a good thing.

Richard Petty’s crew chief, Dale Inman, made it. Car owner Glen Wood is now in, and Cale Yarborough has made it to the Hall. All were on hand except Evans, who is deceased, and Yarborough.

Something that has kept Cale out of the Hall in earlier votes seems to be his lack of interest in NASCAR racing since he retired from the sport. Though his hometown of Timmonsville, S.C., is located not that far from Charlotte, he did not show up to celebrate this great honor or to be celebrated.

No one seemed to know why he was not there. Perhaps it was a busy day at his car dealership.

I voted for old-time racer Herb Thomas. He had a fantastic record during the short time that he was active in the sport. And I had Clay Earles on my ballot. He was the man who built the Martinsville Speedway. And I voted for owner/driver Cotton Owens.

As it stands right now, my ballot next time will include Thomas, Earles and Owens, plus Jerry Cook and Jack Ingram. That is subject to change once I get to see who the five new names on the ballot will be.

I do feel bad for those who do not make it. All 25 names on the ballot deserve a spot in the Hall. In time, they will all make it. A committee is being considered, similar to what they have in the MLB Hall of Fame, that would select a few over the years that have slipped through the cracks and did not make it through the regular voting process. I think that is a great idea.

It makes me feel particularly sad when I see a legend like Cotton Owens show up for each voting session. He comes with his best friend, Bud Moore. Last year, Moore made it into the Hall and Owens did not. This year, Moore and Owens again were in attendance, and Moore had some wonderful things to say about his old buddy, as did others, but Owens missed out again.

Next year, we will be back in the same Charlotte Convention Center room for the voting session. Bud Moore and Cotton will drive over together from Spartansburg. The hope will be that Cotton makes it into the Hall next time. I think it will happen. He is what the sport of NASCAR stock car racing is all about.

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